Church women World Community Day celebration Friday

the Rev. GWEN BERNSTINE Special to the Sun-Gazette

“Sharing Gifts at the Table” is the theme of this year’s World Community Day that will be celebrated at 1:30 p.m. Friday at St. Paul-Calvary United Methodist Church, 1427 Memorial Ave.

As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Church Women United, we remember that World Community Day is an annual event that began in 1943 as denominational leaders saw the need for Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian women to set aside a special day to gather in a common worship experience focusing on their unity, and studying issues of love and justice and continuing to work for peace in our communities.

The Ecumenical Celebrations Committee invites all of us to explore ways we can each share our uniquely beautiful gifts when we come to the table. We come from different cultures, family traditions, religious practices, and are of different ages; forming a cornucopia to delight the senses.

Linda Jackson, president of Church Women United of Lycoming County, encourages women to participate in the service and also to take this opportunity to share in the Christmas stocking project for nursing homes in Lycoming County.

An offering from the service will help support the women’s national ecumenical ministries of Church Women United for peace and justice, including its commitments to advancing the social and economic power of women.

Christmas stocking bags and a $4 donations for each to be distributed throughout Lycoming County to residents of nursing homes and children in the Project Impact Program. Last year about 1,200 people in our county felt the warmth of God’s love at Christmas thanks to your efforts. This year, Pat Wittig and Barbara Allen, coordinators of the project, invite volunteers to assemble and pack stocking bags at 9 a.m. on Nov. 16 at Pine Street United Methodist Church, 441 Pine St. Each bag will be filled with a pen, notebook, hand cream, emery board, tissues, comb and Christmas card. The children’s bags have crayons and coloring books.

The Fellowship of the Least Coin basket will be available at the close of the service. The tradition is part of a global prayer movement offering prayers for those who are victims of jealousy, hatred, violence, and injustice to the family, community, nation, and the world. At the time of the prayer you give your “least coin” as a tangible token of your prayer. The offerings then are combined and given as grants to help right injustice in our world.

Patterns will be available from Wittig at this celebration to make walker bags and catheter bag covers that are urgently needed for area nursing homes. They will be collected this spring at the World Day of Prayer Celebration along with lap robes.